China's railway transportation's annual peak season, which sees tens of millions of people travel across the country to return home for the traditional Spring Festival, is expected to hit an all-time high 130 million passengers.

The coming spring season for the railways will start on January 28 and end on March 8, according to the Ministry of Railways.

The "Spring Season Transport", as it is usually called, includes floods of transient laborers and college students returning home during their winter vacation.

In addition, in recent years an increasing number of other people have traveled during the Spring Festival period.

Due to the large number of travelers during this period, China's transport system, chiefly the railway sector, works especially hard to ensure that "traffic" runs smoothly.

The ministry predicts that during the 2002 40-day peak season, the railway sector will have to handle 130 million passengers, 3.17 million more than last year's figure, averaging 3.25 million per day.

The ministry has worked out a viable transport plan to ensure safe and fast transport services during the period, according to Liu Zhijun, vice minister of the Ministry of Railways.

( People's Daily December 18, 2001)